Wow. Just... wow. The sad thing is, everything that this RIM employee wrote is just DEAD ON. Many of us that use the phones, and many tech bloggers, have been saying much the same thing for months now. RIM has stalled... once, they pioneered the smart phone market and led the way for everyone else to follow. Now they're trailing behind, and it saddens me. While the general public may prefer their id10tPhones and their Android phones, I've yet to find a phone that is truly a worthy replacement for the BlackBerry for EMAIL, which is something I still rely on mine for.

Only time will tell if RIM can turn things around like they need to. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Re: Open Letter to RIM From One of Their Execs & RIM's Response to It!

Wow! I expected a lively discussion by now.

I've been supporting BlackBerry since 2004...I built the first server (shared with our Sametime server...yikes!) and ran the pilot..."just 30 or 40, company-wide" the CIO said.

We now have 700 some units on two BES. I have built and administered several servers over the years, seen generation after generation of handsets come and go. Different versions of BBDM, etc.

What am I carrying? An old Tour. It's roamed from Ireland to Manila to Turks & Caicos. Worked fine. Could I upgrade? Yes. Why do I still have a 5.0 Tour? Because I don't care anymore.

When we started getting 6.0 devices, I fiddled with it. "Browser still sucks" I thought and didn't bother to upgrade. I'm secretly hoping they let us get iPhone or Android devices so I'm saving my upgrade in my back pocket.

I have a collection of past devices in my office. From the stoic 7750 to the durable but clunky 7130, to Storms and Pearls. I have them all. Sitting there silently. A monument to Canadian technology.

But you know what? I can pick up a 8830 and it's very similar to a new Bold. No radical changes in four years. Four years. That's how long iPhone has been out.

My love affair with all things RIM ended with the original Storm. That thing was in Beta and they were charging for it. It was like Vista. What a horrible horrible device. I went to a dog and pony rollout breakfast and it was hard for the sales guys to hide their disappointment. Subsequent OS upgrades didn't do much for...it absolutely paled in comparison to an iPhone.

On the server and software side too, I've been disappointed. BBDM has gotten increasingly weird. There are simple functions you can't do in BlackBerry (server) Manager (like export all your phone numbers with SIM numbers for example). I was blindsided by a recent SRP infrastructure change...despite our TSupport contract we weren't notified until a week before the mandatory DNS entry change...

So yeah, I've held a Bold Touch. It exists. Had 7.0 on it. But again, it was like "Gee, that's so...evolutionary not revolutionary" I'm holding out folks...I'm an old BES admin and I'm holding out for a policy change to get an iPhone or Android.

Re: Open Letter to RIM From One of Their Execs & RIM's Response to It!

Quote:

Originally Posted by penguin3107

I'm an idiot because I choose to use an iPhone over a BlackBerry?

That's just my pet name for the "JesusPhone", has been ever since it came out. Where it comes from is the actions of the rabid Apple Zombies that were all over internet forums during the first year or 2 after the product's introduction. Most of them were the type of people that, upon calling Tech Support, would be found to have a PEBCAK* error of the ID-10-T variety!

It also stems from my distaste for Apple's desire to have draconian control over what you can and can't do with your device and the data on it. Which is also why I don't like Verizon Wireless, either.

I refuse to own an iPod for the same reasons. I HATE DRM with a passion. I use a Sandisk Sansa MP3 player so that I have full control of my digital music files and what I do with them, not the manufacturer of my device. But then again, I also still buy my music the old-fashioned way... on CDs, and then rip it myself at the bit-rate I prefer, rather than just buying the albums on iTunes pre-ripped at 128 kbps, which sounds like CRAP to me.

Re: Open Letter to RIM From One of Their Execs & RIM's Response to It!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack T. Chance

I refuse to own an iPod for the same reasons. I HATE DRM with a passion. I use a Sandisk Sansa MP3 player so that I have full control of my digital music files and what I do with them, not the manufacturer of my device.

Odd. I have an iPod and can do whatever I want with my music... and there is no DRM. Apple doesn't control my iPod, my music, or my life. But, I guess it's easier to keep the misinformation flowing to justify your use of the terms "JesusPhone" and "id10tPhones" and to make it easier to go with the masses and hurl insults at people that enjoy Apple products.

It's so chic to bash Apple, Apple products, and consumers that use Apple products it's nauseating, especially when those that do the bashing have no actual clue what they are talking about.

__________________
Ian

Semper Fi 3/2/2"Wow" is now overused. Therefore, I will use "Magic bananas" instead.

Re: Open Letter to RIM From One of Their Execs & RIM's Response to It!

The first letter was well written and offered solutions to the issues they're having. The second letter just sounds like a disgruntled employee whining. Offers nothing in the way the first letter did. Many companies have employees that feel that way. Nothing specific to RIM. The third letter was alight, not as good as the first. I just hope this doesn't become a trend. Otherwise, it will be more and more like the second letter repeated. I am not really interested in hearing about people whine.

__________________The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.When you take things for granted, the things you are granted, get taken. Even a mosquito doesn't get a pat on the back until it starts to work.Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.[BES 5.0.3 / GroupWise 2012 HP2]

Re: Open Letter to RIM From One of Their Execs & RIM's Response to It!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack T. Chance

That's just my pet name for the "JesusPhone", has been ever since it came out. Where it comes from is the actions of the rabid Apple Zombies that were all over internet forums during the first year or 2 after the product's introduction. Most of them were the type of people that, upon calling Tech Support, would be found to have a PEBCAK* error of the ID-10-T variety!

It also stems from my distaste for Apple's desire to have draconian control over what you can and can't do with your device and the data on it. Which is also why I don't like Verizon Wireless, either.

I refuse to own an iPod for the same reasons. I HATE DRM with a passion. I use a Sandisk Sansa MP3 player so that I have full control of my digital music files and what I do with them, not the manufacturer of my device. But then again, I also still buy my music the old-fashioned way... on CDs, and then rip it myself at the bit-rate I prefer, rather than just buying the albums on iTunes pre-ripped at 128 kbps, which sounds like CRAP to me.

*Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard.

I have news for you, the iphone may have been a curiosity when it first came out, but now it has over taken and surpassed the BB in almost every way. Keep clinging to the past, but the iphone is what a smartphone should be.

Re: Open Letter to RIM From One of Their Execs & RIM's Response to It!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArgonNJ

I have news for you, the iphone may have been a curiosity when it first came out, but now it has over taken and surpassed the BB in almost every way. Keep clinging to the past, but the iphone is what a smartphone should be.

Unless you're a touch-typist and prefer a PHYSICAL KEYBOARD!

Luckily, there are iPhone cases that include a flip or slide out Bluetooth QWERTY keyboard to solve that problem. But IF I switch away from a on my next phone upgrade, it will most likely be to go to an Android phone w/ a QWERTY keyboard BUILT-IN. Why should I have to buy a real, tactile keyboard separately? That makes no sense to me.